EU digital roadmap: 3G, IT investment, broadband get thumbs up

Bridge the digital divide, ensure all directives are fully implemented, stimulate domestic demand for broadband and ensure the success of 3G: that's what the EC wants from the European Union's member states this year, it has announced.

The European Commission has reminded the 15 member countries of their obligations when it comes to developing new technologies. Led by Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen, the EC has established a roadmap which lays down the key objectives for 2004.

Brussels has highlighted the importance of investment in ICT and use of such technologies for growth and employment in Europe.

Liikanen said in a statement: "If the Union is to maximise the impact of the information society as the engine for growth, productivity and jobs, we have to create the right climate for further investment."

According to Liikanen, the sector, disaster-stricken in 2000, seems to have perked up in 2003. Even if the Commission noted that growth has been "moderate", the figures divulged by the main tech players have risen 2.6 per cent, a rate the EC calls "comparable to that of the nominal growth of GDP". The Commission did not supply any precise figures.

"Most of the overall increase in revenues from the sector has come from the service segment... mainly driven by mobile services and complemented by the continued expansion of broadband and internet services," Brussels said.

According to the figures, the number of broadband connections has doubled between October 2002 and October 2003, when nearly 20 million European households had broadband. The Commission is nevertheless warning the member states to buck their ideas up; it has found numerous disparities in the penetration rates which necessitate measures "to avoid the widening of the digital divide".

The Commission has four top priorities for 2004. Brussels is demanding that every country must publish its strategy for the development of broadband, notably the least well-off. Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK are absolved, however.

The second priority is to ensure that all the member states correctly apply the EU laws on telecoms. In short, it doesn't want to let states like France - who have yet to fully implement EU law on telecoms - off the hook. Such delays hamper competition and give rise to a climate of uncertainty, the Commission said.

Brussels is also requesting that governments "stimulate [household] demand" for broadband, not only by cutting prices but also by implementing initiatives to do with security, management of digital rights and interoperability between the different services and systems.

And finally, over this year, the Commission will be developing its objectives to ensure "the successful launch of third-generation mobile communications". It highlights that currently such services only cover 500,000 subscribers across five member states but that it hopes to see more than 40 networks rolled out in 2004.

The demand for mobile data services could replace broadband as the main driver for recovery, Erkki Liikanen said.

Estelle Dumout writes for ZDNet France.